[Ham] My contention is that man will realize his true freedom only when he becomes his own authority.
[Case] Authority? How much you got? How much you need? When I get enough will I be freed? When I am my own and I'm cuttin' loose Will I be there because I got the juice? When I'm truly free, without constraint Will I see the world without complaint? Will I be calming seas? Will I walk on air? By what Authority? Whose got some? Can I get some? Buy what? Authority? [Ham] We came close to this ideal when we broke the chains of tyranny and founded a free republic with limited government and maximum liberty for its citizens. Except for the war between the states, it worked well for the first hundred years or so. [Case] During Ham's 72 year Golden Age We fought a war with England And rampaged across a continent We ravaged civilizations Scattered whole races of people The Civil War was a vacation For the Lakota and the Zuni When the white men stopped Killing each other The rampage renewed They threaded two oceans With strands of steel For those who rode the Iron Horse It worked pretty well indeed. Do you think that horse was forged >From broken chains of tyranny? [Ham] But by the middle of the last century we began to lose our bearings and take freedom and prosperity for granted. We thought we could "improve" upon the value of life by treating everbody as equals and passing "progressive" programs to spread the wealth and make government society's caretakers. [Case} Under any kinda program wealth gets spread. But when the bread gets buttered, who holds the bread? Africans and women got three fifths 'a slice Carnegie's got toasted. Served with rum and spice. Is it the white man's burden to tote the loaf? When the buses stopped in Selma And governors were escorted >From the steps of universities By armed police A race of people's lot "improved." The value of their lives grew when they were given The freedom and prosperity "we" had been taking for granted. Of whose care does the caretaker take? Who gets the bread and butter? Who gets the steak? Should we ease the white man's burden while niños are starved? If the loafman's load is lighter will some bigger crumbs get carved? Under every kind of program, when the wealth gets spread Just like spreading butter; it's who holds the bread. [Ham quoting himself:] "The refrain we hear most often is: 'It can't happen here -- America is different.' But the reality is that civilized nations are not immortal; they are born and die just as individuals do. Although their longevity may exceed the average person's lifespan, we cannot escape history. And history teaches us that empires also die." [Case] The deaths of empires can be protracted and rumors of them exaggerated. Take the Greeks. Egypt gasped away for 3000 years Until Cleopatra had the last asp. China's dynasties didn't so much die As change names for 5000 years. The Chosen People have wandered Through desserts and death camps for millennia. The British might well insist that theirs endures. Historians sign the death certificates. America is different if it claims the right to decide. Do not the Greeks live in us? And the Iroquoi? And the Hottentot? And the Hindu? And the Jew? I think they do. What of the Inca and the Aztec, the Mayans and the Anasazi? What sins did they commit To attract the buzzard's eye of historians? 'It can happen here, if America is indifferent.' Indifferent to the sins of its past. Indifferent to the poor in spirit Indifferent to the mourners Indifferent to the hungry Indifferent to those persecuted for seeking justice Indifferent to all those, whose only hope of empire Is the Kingdom of Heaven Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
